Charging the cardinal is a tiny part of the
story(Sydney Morning
Herald) July 2 – (Opinion: Peter FitzSimons) I genuinely have no firm view as to the
likely guilt or innocence of Cardinal George Pell on the grave charges of child
sexual abuse levelled against him, and do not seek to pre-judge the legal
process in any way.

’Watershed moment’ for Catholic Church as
Cardinal George Pell charged(Sydney Morning Herald) June 29 - One of Australia’s leading Catholic Church commentators has
described the charges against Cardinal George Pell as a "watershed
moment", while sex abuse survivor advocates have urged the cardinal to
follow through on his undertaking to return to Australia to face court in
person.

George Pell’s alleged victims welcome
charges (Brisbane Times) June 30 - Two men who claim to be sexual abuse victims of Cardinal George Pell
say they have been finally heard after years of being too fearful to report
their allegations to police.

ARTS
& ENTERTAINMENT

Racism, religion, jihad and hijabs go under
the microscope (The Australian)
July 1 – (Review) I have sat through
academic conferences that have provided less insight into the politics and
sociology of violent extremism than I’ve gained from a viewing of Four Lions,
Chris Morris’s dark satire about four bumbling suicide bombers.

’It’s the end of the road for Pell’ (The Australian) June 30 - Vatican insiders are already preparing to pension off George Pell,
regardless of the ­outcome of any court case.

EDUCATION

School’s stolen generations lesson that
traumatised children is criticised by parents (The Guardian, Australia) June 29 - The peak body representing members of the stolen generations has
recommended against “experiential learning” as a way to teach the history of
forced removal of Indigenous children in Australia, after a Sydney primary
school scared children to tears by pretending they were being taken away from
their parents.

Man tries to drive into crowd outside
French mosque (Brisbane Times)
June 30 - Paris: A man has been arrested after trying to drive a car into a
crowd in front of a mosque in the Paris suburb of Creteil on Thursday, police
said, adding that no one was injured.

Also:
’No religion’ tops religion question in
Census (news.com.au) June 27 - DESPITE a scare campaign about Australia becoming a “Muslim country”,
those ticking “no religion” in the Census has now overtaken the number of
Catholics.

Also:
The nation goes godless (The Australian) July 1 – (Opinion: Bernard Salt) Christianity has lost a huge chunk of
followers in a generation.

Church and states braced for biggest battle
on euthanasia (The Guardian,
Australia) June 27 - The American state of Oregon has allowed doctors to prescribe lethal
drugs for terminally ill patients for almost 20 years, and local doctor William
Toffler is in Australia to tell Australians it has been a disaster.